Searching
by Scoops838
Summary: Tag to 13.3 Incognito. Bishop despite earlier talks with the Boss goes lone wolf again on an investigation whilst undercover, jeopardising her career, the case and her life. Gibbs has dealt with her differently until now than he has with the others but now he must search for some way to get through to her that things cannot continue like this. Contains Adult Discipline and Spanking
1. Chapter 1

So all in all it had been a stressful week and now Gibbs found himself summonsed to Vances' office. He had not been told why and truth be told he was not really focused upon the reasoning behind it as he made his way up to the Directors Office. Instead he was focusing on how he was going to deal with the youngest and newest member of his team and her latest escapade. Sure the others had been trying his patience all week but nothing had got his blood boiling like this for some time.

DiNozzo had been a little distracted at the start of the week with his enthusiasm to track down his British Royal ancestry. His own eventual realization that he was possibly related to the 17th Earl of Trent who was suspected in some exalted historical circles to have been Jack the Ripper had calmed him down quite considerably. The occasional head slap had helped too…. Just to remind him to do his research in his own time.

DiNozzo had also come to his own realization that he had been dismissive of their victims' (Major Newton) suspicions over the years and had been positively rude about him. Ducky had reported to Gibbs that DiNozzo had been down to autopsy to make his apologies to the man. Perhaps a little late but it certainly marked a new level of maturity in his young protégé and Gibbs had not had to give him help in getting there.

The only time Gibbs had really had to get anywhere close to having a private chat in the conference room with Tony was after his visit to see Master Sergeant Dillon at Quantico when he had been somewhat disrespectful to the man scoffing at his performing in Le Cage aux Folles and suggesting he was playing the part of the Drag Queen Za Za. A quick word with Tony following an unofficial complaint made directly to Gibbs by Dillon and the threat that anymore of this sort of thing would result in Tony being forced to attend every equality and diversity seminar going in the State for the next month had brought forth the requisite apology.

No Tony was not the problem and could not be the cause of the summons to the office.

Tim, well he had been Tim; a little jealous of Tony at the start of the week and a few comments and jibes made about Tony here and there but a glance, well perhaps more of a glare from Gibbs had swiftly put a stop to all of that. The only other thing that he had slightly annoyed Gibbs with was his not picking up the call from Ellie when she was trying to alert him about the suspects. Sure he was trying to follow up on a lead but a quick answer and an improvised conversation would have saved a lot of problems. Tony had however taken him to one side and ripped into him about being uncontactable and had then provided him with a master class in telephone acting for him to use on any further undercover ops.

Abby had already confessed to him a week before about her little run in with the police and her need to complete online traffic school. He had been angry that once again Abby's disregard for the rules of the road and her own safety behind the wheel had brought her into conflict with the law but he had dealt with that by grounding her for a month so that she would have no need to be texting Sister Rosita whilst driving to arrange their next bowling session. For what it was worth Sister Rosita had agreed with this line of punishment and had also given Abby a piece of her mind about the dangers of driving and texting too. That had stung and Abby had promised to become a reformed driver.

Gibbs was angry with her over Ellie's latest exploits. She had known Ellie had gone into the suspects' house alone and had not alerted anyone. Only at the last minute when it was already too late had she called Gibbs in panic and terror. She had then watched her little sister being attacked by Hudson through the tv link and had experienced the abject fear that she may never see her alive again. That was a lesson in and of itself and one which Gibbs had re-inforced when he found her later in her lab in tears, cuddling Bert the Hippo and offering up whatever prayers she could that Bishop would come back to her in one piece. The spanking she had received had not needed to be a particularly long or harsh one and after the first few smacks from Gibbs rough hand she had dissolved into a mess of heart racking sobs and sniffling. It had been delivered more to help her get over her feelings of guilt than anything else. Abby could not be the source of the summons.

It had to be Ellie Bishop that was the cause of the demanded meeting and that knowledge and belief was doing nothing to quell the anger brewing in Gibbs' gut. He reached the Directors door and marched right in. No point in putting this off any longer, he had other problems to resolve.

As he strode into the office with the appearance of more confidence than he actually had in the situation, he found Leon on the phone clearly trying to appease some political figure or another. Vance looked up from the call at the unceremonious entrance to his office. He had long ago given up on expecting Gibbs to knock but he sure as hell got annoyed by the confident stomp right up to his desk and the steely gaze that fell upon him almost demanding that he end the call to SecNav and deal with Gibbs now.

Vance gradually drew the call to an end, taking in several deep breaths, apologizing for the umpteenth time and promising to have a report into the situation on the SecNavs desk within the next 48 hours. As he finally replaced the handset back into the cradle he took one final deep breath before standing up to meet Gibbs glare head on.

"Why'd you summons me he here Leon?" Gibbs started the discourse in a rather terse tone.

"Because Gibbs, it may have escaped your notice, but I am still the Director of this little set-up and you answer to me, not the other way round" came the angry retort.

"Jeez and I thought you might have a reason as to why you are calling me here rather than letting me get on sorting my team out and putting this latest case to bed," remarked Gibbs in a surly and sarcastic manner.

Wanting to bite back, but knowing that one of them would need to bite their tongue if they were going to sort this out Leon refused to be further goaded by Gibbs on this occasion. Instead he moved around the desk and over to the drinks cabinet to pour himself and Gibbs a single malt whisky.

Pointing to a seat around his conference table he indicated for Gibbs to sit himself down and then placed the crystal glass with the smooth amber liquid in front of him. As he too took a seat and a deep sigh he looked at the leader of his MCRT and realized, not for the first time, that Gibbs looked tired. Perhaps he should tread a little more carefully with him.

"That was SecNav on the phone," he started. "He wants to know why he has a $500 an hour lawyer on the phone to his personal secretary demanding the head of the lead investigator on the Hudson case at Quantico." He paused but no answer was forthcoming from Gibbs.

Vance continued, "It seems that Hudson has hired himself an aggressive attorney to defend him, probably using his wife's'inheritance to fund it. The attorney is threatening that she is going to sue the Marines for unlawful search of her clients home and for injury caused during that unauthorized entry. Tell me that we at least have some kind of a defence to this."

Gibbs frowned, "Hell Leon the guy had his ex-wife butchered, preserved in formaldehyde and shrink wrapped into vacuum packs and stored in boxes in his spare bedroom and you want me to explain why he should not be suing the Government?"

"Yes I do," came the reply, "Convince me that some fancy assed Beltway lawyer is not going to get this bastard off on some sort of a technicality and then rub salt in the wound by getting compensation for him."

Taking a long sip of the whisky in front of him, Gibbs paused before replying, "I'll sort it Leon, it's on me, I'll sort it." With that he stood from the table. "Is there anything else or can I get back to the team?"

"Make sure you do sort it, I need your report to me about what happened and whether you have disciplined your team on my desk by close of play tomorrow." Demanded Vance.

"You'll have it," came the short reply, "you'll have it" he repeated as he turned and made his way to the door.


	2. Chapter 2

As he descended the steps down into the bullpen Gibbs could still feel the rage bubbling away inside him. Sure he was angry, he was upset, he'd damn near lost the most recent occupant of that desk and for the first time in his life he was uncertain. It was this uncertainty with how to deal with the situation that just made it all worse.

As he rounded the corner to the desks, three pairs of eyes scoured him for any sign of what Vance had wanted with their boss but his grim visage and steely eyes gave nothing away but the anger he was feeling. He moved quickly to his desk, switched off the computer and without a word scooped up his car keys and wallet, turned and marched off towards the elevator.

Ellie was just about to open her mouth to speak to him when out of the corner of her eye she caught the pleading eyes of DiNozzo that were practically begging her to keep her mouth shut and let Gibbs go. A quick turn of her head towards Tim revealed a similar imploring look.

It was as if Gibbs knew too. In the final strides towards the elevator he stopped dead in his tracks, spun on his heal and to Ellie said, "Something you gotta say to me Agent Bishop?"

It was not a welcoming invite to speak. Ellie could feel the intake of breath from the other two members of the team and she would swear that the temperature in the building just took a tumble into the minus zone. Looking towards Gibbs she tried to open her mouth again but nothing came out, nothing really intelligible anyway. At most, all she managed to really say was, "No Gibbs."

Seeing the general look of despair amongst his team and knowing that he was not really looking for a conversation at this point either, he simply commanded, "Go home all of ya." With that he turned once again stepped into the elevator and was gone.

Tony was the first of the three to move or speak. He moved around his table to Bishops desk. Taking a lead from him Tim moved alongside. Ellie was still staring forlornly at the closed elevator doors simultaneously wishing Gibbs would come back so this could get sorted out but at the same time hoping to never have to deal with it and wishing it would just go away.

"Hey Bish,"quietly whispered DiNozzo, trying to break her out of the trance like state she was now in, "it'll be fine, he just needs time to calm down."

"I'm not sure Tony," responded McGee without thinking and without realizing that Tony was just trying to calm Ellie down, "I've not seen him this mad in a while not since you…."

He got no further in his explanation as DiNozzo delivered a Gibbs style head slap to him to shut him up before he caused Ellie to break down completely.

"Hey, what did you do that for," retorted McGee raising his hand to rub at the spot Tony had contacted just milliseconds before. Tony did not reply instead he simply nodded his head in Bishops direction as if to guide McGee to the same conclusion he had already drawn. "Oh sorry," came the response. He could almost hear DiNozzo's eyeballs rolling in their sockets as he finally realized what Tony was trying to achieve.

Tony turned his attention to Bishop again. "So have you and Gibbs spoken about what happened yet?" he enquired.

"No, he doesn't really even seem to want to acknowledge me," she replied.

"Look in my experience of getting in a mess like this, and there have been a few, it's best to let him cool off a bit first, take it out on his boat with a sanding block and then deal with it," advised Tony, hoping to get across to her that their Boss would calm down given a bit of time.

"That's just the point though," Ellie responded, "I don't know how he is going to deal with this. This is big and I'm not sure he will want me around anymore."

Tony shot Tim a puzzled look and then turning back to Ellie said, "surely he has dealt with you in the past for mistakes made?"

"Not really, no. He just looks disappointed at me. He knows I'm not as good an agent as you two and he treats me differently. I know that he treats you as his sons and…" she got no further as Tim interjected.

"Sure he doesn't treat you any differently Ellie," he stated, "it's just that he has known us a lot longer and we have probably given him more to deal with than you."

"Its not that," she muttered in a defeated tone, "he told me some time ago when I got the Probie eval he had been training me and treating me differently than he did you and Tony. He said it was something to do with losing the two previous occupants of my desk. I asked him not to go easy on me and all he did was stop me sitting on the floor and made me use my desk."

She could see two pairs of eyebrows practically knit themselves into a confused frown in front of her.

"What he's never.." there was a pause in Tony's response. How to ask her this without giving away what he and Tim received by way of punishment? He didn't need to finish the sentence.

"Spanked me? Taken his belt to me? No." Ellie finished his thought for him.

"Then how do you know that's what he does to us?" enquired Tony.

"Come on guys, I've seen you get marched off to the conference room, and seen you return later looking as if you never want to sit down again in your life. I know the signs of corporal punishment, I grew up on a farm with three older brothers who were always in trouble, got into some myself, and had to deal with parents who would set us right, Still would." She informed them. "But Gibbs just doesn't deal with me in that way. I don't know what to do." She hung her head and the first telltale signs of tears began to trickle down her cheeks. "He's bound to chuck me off the team, perhaps out of the Agency." Trickling tears turned into huge great sobs and Tony and Tim were at a loss for what to do.

Moving around the desk to comfort her, Tim place a brotherly arm around her shoulders. Tony knelt down in front of the desk to get to her eye level.

"Hey come on don't cry, we'll help you. Perhaps we can talk to him on your behalf first." Tony said this more in an attempt to calm down her tears than anything else, truth be told he had not seen Gibbs this angry for sometime and was not really relishing the idea of confronting his Boss on this one but if someone had to it was better him than Tim.

"Perhaps he is just worried about spanking you like he does us," volunteered Tim. "You know perhaps it is that he knows that you have parents who care a lot about you, and you are married to Jake. Perhaps he thinks he can't step into the father role with you like he can with Tony and I."

"Why not?" sniffed Ellie, clearly not following Tim's line of logic.

"Well when he met me and Tony, neither of us was married or in a relationship and lets just say our real families were something of a distant memory. My Dad was never really there to support me or correct me as I got older. I was just a disappointment to him cos I'd not gone into the Navy. You on the other hand have a loving family that does care. Perhaps Gibbs feels like it would be wrong to assume the same role with you," explained Tim.

Seeing the logic in what Tim was saying Tony joined in, "perhaps you need to let him know you would be alright with it, that you would prefer that as an option to formal written reprimands and the like."

It took Ellie a moment to compute all that Tim and Tony were saying to her, but her tears stopped and she looked up to them, "I'm not sure how to," she almost whispered, "will you guys come with me?" she begged.

Simultaneously both of her team mates gulped down their own worry and nodded. "Come on little sis, lets get this sorted."


	3. Chapter 3

The fifth mug of strong black coffee had gone someway to calming Gibbs down and the bourbon from the shelf next to the paint stripper was helping too. The sanding of the boat, well that was always a comfort but still an uneasiness still existed and he just could not get to the bottom of it.

Why was he struggling with this? If DiNozzo had been the one to break into the house of a suspect alone and without any weapons let alone back up the kid would have probably have been killed by him and put into vacuum bags himself. If it had been Tim the lad would not have been able to sit comfortably for at least a year and would never have wanted to go snooping in another moving box ever again.

He rubbed his rough hand over his face, which was finely coated with the sawdust from his frenetic sanding. Was he being a misogamist? Did he treat his boys more harshly than the girls? His mind flew back to the times that Ziva had pulled stunts like this. He had disciplined her, maybe more spanking than using the paddle or the belt but he had known what to do. Ziva was different though, head strong like Ellie…yes, full of spirit like Ellie…yes, but different. Ziva was physically stronger and god knows with the things she had seen and experienced she needed to be. However Ellie was no weakling…. It could not be that which was stopping him dealing with this.

His thoughts wandered to Kate. She and Ziva had been so different in many ways but alike in others. He missed her so much; she had died protecting him. It should never have been like that. It was his job to protect his team. He had done that in the past with his own style of teaching and where he did not think he could teach them, they had been transferred off of the team pretty quickly, not as people thought because he could not stand them (although there had been a few) but because he did not want to be the one telling their parents they had been lost on his watch because he had not been able to teach them well enough.

Maybe that's what it was…. Parents…. DiNozzo's father had been a waste of space whilst his son grew up, neglectful of his duties and his son. Tim's father was away at sea most of the time and rather an ogre when at home such that for years his son thought that his father did not want him because he was disappointed in him. Ziva, well her father sent her out into the very danger Gibbs tried to protect her from and although Kate had a good upbringing she had been alone in Washington for too long without parental input. This is where Ellie differed. Her parents visited often, her brothers were very protective of her and she was married to Jake. How could he begin to walk into the middle of that dynamic…. And yet he did not want to send her away, she was a good agent and with time could be a great one but she needed to remember she was part of a team; part of the family.

She had begged him to treat her like he did the boys and yet it did not feel right. He had done that with the girls before and he had not saved Kate; and Ziva had gone too. He still disciplined Abby but she was different again.

Did she know how he disciplined the rest of the team? He had never told her and even DiNozzo who usually talked incessantly kept certain things to himself. Sure Tim and Abby both knew how he dealt with all of them but they did not go around talking about it either. It was kept in the family. A certain guilt overcame him, perhaps he had been unfair keeping her on the team like this but not treating her like the rest of them. Maybe this different treatment is what had led her to take the risks she had in the first place? Although he had told her specifically that they had enough evidence to arrest Hudson and she did not need to risk anything to get more information he had only told her a few weeks before that she needed to take the initiative a little more often.

He groaned inwardly. He was at least a little responsible for putting her in danger but even he had never imagined that she would break into the house alone, no weapon, no back-up and no communication. He had no idea what she would find in there or that the suspect would be tipped off by the woman masquerading as his wife who had bumped into McGee in town. Nor could he have known that the officer who had found the body of Major Newton would bump into McGee whilst he was having coffee with the female suspect and ask him how the investigation was going.

He knew what he should really do. He should treat her the same as the others. He should give her the option as he had the others, formal or off-the-record punishment. How would her family feel about that. You can't just march into someone's family set up and take over the discipline role, and Jake…. How would he feel if he knew his wife was getting her bare backside spanked by her boss?

Gibbs poured another healthy dose of bourbon into his battered mug. There was the rub! He knew what he needed to do, he knew why he needed to do it. What he didn't know is whether he could or whether he should. He picked up the sanding block again and started working away at the ribs.

Meanwhile a dark sedan was pulling up outside his house. Inside DiNozzo at the wheel and Tim in the front seat. Ellie shifting restlessly in the back, tired, upset, nervous and if truth be told more than a little frightened.

Tony reached back and placed a comforting hand on her knee. Smiling his best DiNozzo smile and attempting to hide the uneasiness inside he said, "come on lets get this sorted, you with me?"

Ellie briefly raised her eyes to him, they were still full of tears, a little red around the rims and lost, like a small childs. "Ready," she answered although no one in the car really believed that, not even her.

Tim got out and opened the door for her, Tony led the way up the path. No point in knocking, he knew the door would be open and Gibbs would be in the basement. He placed his hand onto the door knob and turned it like he had done so many times before when he was the one going to meet the consequences of his own actions. He still felt just as nervous now.

Gibbs heard the creak of the floorboards above him and the telltale sound of three sets of footsteps above him. He listened as two sets made their way over to his sofa. Just the one set continued to the basement door. The door eased open and thise footsteps emerged onto the dimly lit steps which led to his bolt hole. He looked up through the skeleton of his boat at his visitor.

"Boss can we talk?"


	4. Chapter 4

Tony trudged slowly down the steps choosing to sit in his favourite spot four steps up from the bottom. Gibbs could see he was nervous although Tony was doing all he could to hide it behind a winning smile.

"You want a drink?" asked Gibbs holding out the bottle and an empty jar.

"No Boss, I'd better not" Tony responded shaking his head and lowering his gaze to the piles of sawdust littering the floor.

Shrugging his shoulders and replacing the bottle carefully onto the shelf Gibbs uncharacteristically felt that he needed to start the conversation that the younger man had clearly come to have with him.

"So you volunteered as the messenger then? Came to see if the old man had calmed down a bit."

"Yeah something like that Boss," came the slow answer. Tony couldn't help but crack a nervous grin as he raised his eyes to meet those of the senior agent. "Just want to make sure you still believe in not shooting the messenger first." He continued.

"Ah DiNozzo, if I killed the messenger all the time there'd be no room in this damn basement for my boat," Gibbs tried to joke back. "If it helps I've calmed a little."

"Need to talk about Ellie with you," ventured Tony, "she needs you to um, you know, decide how to deal with her and um…." Tony paused this had been easier in his head in the car. Deciding to just bite the bullet he added. "Boss, she wants to know why you don't treat her the same way as, well, the rest of the team."

Gibbs placed his mug down on the side, sighed heavily and looked over to Tony who was sitting with wide eyes waiting for an answer whilst wondering if he had overstepped the mark. He felt a surge of pride in the young man before him. He knew that standing up to his boss and confronting him on something like this could not have been easy.

"Is Ellie upstairs? He enquired, pretty sure he already knew the answer and starting to make his way to the stairs himself.

What he didn't expect was Tony to jump up and bar his way.

"She is there but before I let you speak to her I need to know what you are proposing to do, um I mean I would like to state her case to you and…." Tony was interrupted.

"You want to make sure I'm not going to fire her, want to know if I still want her on the team and I dare say you are going to try and talk me into going a little easier on her," finished Gibbs.

"Something like that Boss, she is still young, she is still learning and she just wants to impress you, you know we've all been there and got it wrong," continued Tony.

"And is Tim up there too as your second line of defence," asked Gibbs.

"Something like that, although he is trying is best to calm Ellie down too," added Tony. "He has some experience with having a little sister."

Gibbs gently took hold of Tony's shoulders, turning the young man to the side so that he could get past but pausing for a moment to ruffle his hair. "You are a good man Tony DiNozzo," and then adding, "I promise I won't kill her."

With that Gibbs continued up the stairs with Tony close by on his heels. As he entered the living room he wasn't quite prepared for the sight of Ellie sat clutching one of his pillows and crying whilst Tim did his best to console her. They clearly both noticed his immediate presence and Gibbs could not help but notice the protective arm that Tim immediately placed around Ellie's shoulders.

Gibbs jerked his head towards McGee trying to signal to him to go and stand with Tony who was in the kitchen doorway behind him. Tim, however, hesitated and only when Tony beckoned him to him did Tim move. Gibbs crossed over to the sofa and sat in the seat vacated by Tim, noticing as he did that his treatment of Ellie, or rather is lack of treatment of her as part of his family was clearly affecting the boys too.

For a while the two sat in silence, both knowing that whatever happened in the next few minutes would dictate their relationship for the rest of their lives. No one wanted to break the silence until Tony somewhat hesitantly from the doorway suggested that he and McGee would sort out some food for everyone in the kitchen and pulled an unsuspecting Tim along with him.

"I guess they aren't going to go too far from your side on this one hey," started Gibbs. "I'm sorry that you felt you couldn't come to me yourself."

Ellie looked on in shock. This was not what she was expecting, and certainly not Gibbs breaking his own rules about apologies. Her lips went to move but no words were forthcoming.

"So we need to talk and there is a lot to sort out," Gibbs continued. "You realize just how much trouble you are in don't you?"

Ellie could only nod in agreement. This was not how she had imagined it. Was he building her up for the big fall. The whole 'thank you for your service, you messed this up so bad that I think we need to call it a day' speech?

"You know I'm not one for words Bishop but even I acknowledge this is going to require some verbal answers from you, don't you?" asked Gibbs.

"Yes Sir," ventured Ellie, reverting to the way she was when being chastised by her parents, "I just didn't expect it to be like this," she added.

"Well you go first then, suits me fine," said Gibbs. ""Just note I'm expecting a damn good explanation for your behaviour today."

"Not sure I have one," muttered Bishop.

"Well you had better start thinking, and quick," replied Gibbs, " What I don't accept are half truths and lies, so make sure you think about what you are going to say."

"That's just the point Gibbs, I don't know what you want, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to do," shouted Bishop clearly at the end of her frayed emotions, "I don't know how to make you happy and I'm not sure you want me to make this better."

"Hey, calm down and watch the attitude," replied Gibbs doing his best to stay calm himself. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that the boys had moved back to the doorway ready to jump in to help Ellie. Gibbs held up one steadying finger which simultaneously stopped their entry into the room and prevented them from speaking.

Ellie screamed in annoyance, shocking all three of them. "Aaargh I'm so tired of all this," she began, "I don't know where I stand." She rose to her feet and started pacing around. Whatever demons, fears and thoughts she had been holding onto for months now were finally free and they were stomping with her around Gibbs front room. Tim and Tony knowing they should really leave simply stood there in shock and horror at what was unfolding in front of them. The Bishop who they had expected to be contrite and apologetic was letting rip and it was a force to be reckoned with.

Gibbs tried to interject, he could feel his anger beginning to rise to the surface again. "Enough," he yelled, but Ellie continued. All of her insecurities, pent up anger and frustration simply emptied out into that room. Ten minutes later she just suddenly stopped, all cried out, every ounce of energy now gone she suddenly felt that she had to get out of that house. Her career at NCIS was now truly over, there was no coming back from this one. She started to make her way to the front door.

"Just where the hell do you think you are going young lady," boomed Gibbs in a voice that would have stopped the most ardent criminal dead in their tracks for at least a minute or two. "So you think you can waltz into my home and scream the odds at me and just walk out of here without hearing a few home truths in return?"

When no answer was forthcoming he continued, "sit your sorry ass down on that sofa and pin back your ears. Its my turn now." Turning to the boys he added, "Tim, Tony give me a little time alone with Ellie." In shocked silence the two agents backed away into the kitchen and out of the back door. Whatever was going to happen now was well and truly out of their control.

Gibbs turned back to the young woman now on the sofa in front of him. "So lets start with what we all know," he began, "lets start with you unlawfully breaking into the suspects home and lets begin with why."

Ellie did not answer immediately but Gibbs was not going to let her get away with that this time, "shall I tell you why you did it?" he asked. "I think you thought you knew better, you thought that you had the opportunity to impress me with extra info on the female suspect. You thought that I would slap you on the back and say well done Bishop, what a fine agent you are. Am I right?"

"Its not like that," muttered Bishop, "I thought I had time and I wanted to get a lead in the case. I had an opportunity and I took it."

"But we didn't need you too, I told you that on the phone, I told you we had enough to bring Hudson in, I told you we had good reason to suspect the man of murder and you thought you knew better," argued Gibbs, "when we arrested him we would have had all of the opportunities in the world to search the house and get the low down on the female too."

"I thought I had time," reiterated Ellie, almost stamping her foot on the floor as she did so. "I took the initiative that you keep telling me to do and now I'm wrong for doing so?"

"Initiative is fine, but safety and common sense must come first. Did you even consider that any evidence you secured before his arrest and without a warrant would give his lawyer a line of defence? Did you even consider your own damn safety?"

"I didn't," sighed Ellie finally starting to think through the consequences.

"How were you going to defend yourself in there?" Gibbs asked, "Did you have a weapon with you?"

"No Sir," came the whispered response.

"How about back-up? Did you consider that?" Gibbs asked.

"Abby was watching the feed for me," she answered defensively.

"Abby was miles away from you, and how the hell was she going to provide any help to you when you forgot to take your damn phone with you?"

"I messed up Sir, I just … messed up," she repeated.

"Ya think?" scoffed Gibbs. "I nearly lost you in there today. Abby had to watch helpless as you grappled with a man twice your size and strength, Director Vance is having to fend off fancy Beltway lawyers who are trying to get compensation for that piece of scum because of what you did."

"I'm sorry Gibbs, I just don't know how to put this right," sobbed Ellie, her final bit of self control leaving her. "I screwed up, I know, and now its all over."

"Well that's what we really need to discuss isn't it," asked Gibbs. "You ready to sort this mess out?"


	5. Chapter 5

"I've been wrong with you," stated Gibbs, "I've gone easy on you and I know in some way I am in part responsible for this horrible mess we are in."

Ellie remained quiet, here it came the consequences. Suddenly feeling horribly sick she rushed from the room and out into the kitchen where she became acquainted with the trash can and the contents of her stomach. Gibbs went over to the sink and poured a glass of water, returning then to her side and rubbing her back as he encouraged her to take small sips.

"You feeling better now," he finally asked after minutes stood just rubbing gentle circles on her back, "You ok to continue?"

She nodded, not yet trusting herself to open her mouth as she was putting everything into keeping her stomach under control. Gibbs led her back to the sofa.

"I normally give my team a choice, a way to deal with their mistakes, to learn without destroying their career," started Gibbs again, "but you, jeez, I guess you threw me for a loop."

"Why?" was the only response he got.

"Well you see the others, they don't come with the same situation as you," Gibbs tried to explain.

"I don't understand, what do you mean by situation?" queried Bishop.

"I mean family Bishop, I mean your husband," Gibbs responded.

"What do they have to do with my job?" Ellie asked more confused now than when the explanation had begun.

"Everything Ellie, they mean everything," explained Gibbs, "I don't feel I can just walk right into your and their lives and impose myself in them."

"You do with the others, why am I different?" she asked.

"You aren't different, its just…" Gibbs struggled to explain his thoughts, "what would your parents say and your husband if I dealt with you in the same way as Tony and Tim?"

"I hadn't thought about that, but I don't want to find out what they would think if I lost my job either," reasoned Ellie.

"So you are saying that you want the option I gave the others?"

"I don't know, I've not thought this through, I just thought you didn't want to deal with me that way and…." she got no further.

"I need you to think about it Ellie, because if you choose that option this first time then that's how I will deal with future infractions." Gibbs waited, "you don't have to agree, we can try and find another way but I have been making a bit of a hash of that so far."

"It's what I want," stated Ellie without any further consideration.

Gibbs shook his head. "That's not thinking about it nor is it thinking about the effect it could have on Jake and your family." Ellie's head dropped. "Hey look at me, I need you to think about the consequences for everyone and I need you to think about your actions today, properly not just a rehash of what I have said to you…understand?"

Ellie nodded. "How long? She asked.

"Well why don't we start with an hour, upstairs by yourself, no phone, just thinking whilst I get the boys back from wherever they have gone to hide and fix us some food," suggested Gibbs, although not giving her chance to come back on that one. He turned her towards the stairs and directed her to the spare room, holding out her hand for her phone as he did so.

As the door to the spare room closed behind him, Gibbs rubbed his hands across his tired eyes. Not only did Ellie need that time to consider this but now he had given her the option he had to consider it to. If she said yes to it then how would he carry it out, he'd also need to do something to show to Vance and SecNav he had disciplined her. If she said no, well then he was even more at a loss.

He made his way downstairs and dialled Tony's cell. Tony responded before the first ring had even completed. Gibbs chuckled to himself thinking that the boys must have literally been watching the phones waiting for a call probably thinking that either Ellie would be ringing for the getaway car or he would be calling for them to help him bury the body.

"Is she ok?" asked Tony.

"She will be fine, she is upstairs thinking things through for a while," responded Gibbs.

"So you haven't you know…." interjected Tim over the speaker phone.

"Haven't what Tim," teased Gibbs knowing that both boys got embarrassed talking about the spankings they knew Gibbs doled out. Then taking pity on them both. "No not yet, that's what I need her to think about. Are you two coming back?"

"Sure we will be there in a moment," said Tony followed by a clattering of wood and metal with a few curse words thrown in for good measure.

"Where are the pair of you?" Gibbs enquired, concerned about the noises he was hearing from the handset.

"We're in your shed Boss," responded Tony, "McClumsy here just stood on your rake and nearly knocked himself and me out to boot."

"You better not leave a mess in there," warned Gibbs and then enquired, "how the hell did ya both end up there?"

"Well when we dashed out the back door we forgot we couldn't get out the back yard and we felt stupid and couldn't come back through the house so hid in the shed," came the explanation.

Tony and Tim could almost hear Gibbs rolling his eyes on the other end of the line as they tried to put all the things back in the shed just the way they had been. As they finally made their way back into the kitchen, Gibbs was waiting, a pile of food on the counter and a couple of aprons. "Right boys, the vegetables need scrubbing, chopping boiling and all that and the meatloaf needs putting in the oven. Can you get that sorted whilst I get changed out of my work clothes?"

"Sure Gibbs," they responded in unison.

With that took himself and threw himself in the shower, in an attempt to wash away some of the troubles of the day along with the sawdust that covered him from head to toe.

Refreshed and dressed in clean clothes, Gibbs checked his watch, Ellie had been in her room for quite some time, He tapped on the door and pushed it open. Ellie was perched on the wide windowsill staring out at the street below.

"Have you had a chance to decide?" Gibbs asked breaking her silent reverie.

"Yes Sir," she responded. ""I want you to teach me and train me just like the boys, my parents wouldn't want me putting myself in needless danger and Jake, well we never talk about work anymore, he's hardly around but I'd hope he wouldn't want me risking my neck either."

"Come on then lets get this over with," Gibbs beckoned her to stand in front of him where he had positioned himself on the chair by the bed.

She moved to the position before him. She looked young and truly repentant but he needed to know that she understood just where this had all gone wrong.

"So," he said, "I need you to tell me what you did wrong and why you did it."

Ellie had clearly been thinking about this too. "I guess I just wanted to try and prove my worth to you and the team. I thought I could win your approval. I thought I was right. I forgot I was part of a team and I forgot that you were the boss. I disobeyed your orders, I risked my life, the case and my career. I should have stayed put as ordered, I shouldn't have gone into the house without a warrant, without back up and without communications. I'm sorry."

It was clear to Gibbs she had really spent sometime thinking this through. He nodded in the direction of the chest of drawers to Ellies right. "Pass me the brush," he ordered. Ellie turned and picked up the old wooden brush, noting as she did the weight in it. This was going to hurt, that deep, long lasting throb that would last much longer than the initial heat and sting it would cause. She handed it over. "You ready?" he asked. Ellie nodded and moved to Gibbs right hand side. She had been in this position with her parents before and knew the drill.

Gibbs tugged her down positioning her so she was balanced over his knees. He then without any further warning began to warm up her backside with several hard and quick thwacks with the brush. Ellie held her breath and tried to count but after the seventh, or was it the eight thwack (she could no longer recall) she let out an audible gasp and started to sob quietly.

Gibbs ordered her to stand and drop her jeans. She did so, although nerves and embarrassment clearly showing as a rouge glow ascended from her neck up into her face. Still this is what she had chosen and she knew she deserved every bit of it. As she lowered herself over his knees again he pulled her panties down just below her bottom.

Her bottom was already starting to glow from the treatment it had already received but it was nothing to how they were going to be once Gibbs had finished.

As her sobs started to become louder he began to lecture her. "You will not disregard your own safety ever again young lady." "You mean too much to this team, to your family, to me." " I am not going to lose another good agent."

She sobbed harder and harder, Gibbs dropped one knee and connected with her sit spots, she yelped, he continued the lecture.

Downstairs the boys were just tidying up the preparations and could hear the sobs coming from the room above with the occasional yelp as the brush with a sensitive sit spot. No amount of banging of pots and plates and asking each other to pass the knifes and forks could overcome the noise of the punishment coming from the room above. Then it stopped.

In the room Gibbs gently replaced the panties, removed the jeans from around Ellies ankles and gently laid her face down on the bed. He rummaged around in the drawers and found a pair of Abby's sleep pants and laid them on the bed next to Ellie. "Put these on and come down when you are ready'" he whispered into her hair as he leant forward and kissed her forehead through the whisps of blond hair that splayed over it. With that he disappeared with the brush.

He made his way wearily back down stairs and into the kitchen. Tiredness was etched into every crevice of his face and both young men in the kitchen could see the effect that the punishment had on him. A few moments later they were joined by Ellie, walking rather stiffly and slowly, with tear stains still apparent on her face.

"I'm sorry guys," she said, "I guess I owe you all an apology."

"Don't worry Bish," smiled Tony, "once it is done it is forgiven." He looked to Gibbs for reassurance on this. Gibbs nodded and to change the subject he inquired how long to dinner and whether the boys had set the table.

Tim and Tony looked at each other a little sheepishly. "Well we thought we could have trays on our laps in the front room," said Tony.

"Yeah there is a documentary on rocket packs I'd like to watch if that's ok," added Tim, "and well it's a bit more comfortable than your dining room chairs."

Gibbs could see what they were up to and decided to go along with it. As they entered the lounge he could see that the pair of them had collected every soft pillow and cushion they could find and had placed it in Bishops seat knowing full well that she would need it.

As the meal and the documentary came to an end, Gibbs turned to Bishop, "Tomorrow you start a two week desk duty and reduction in pay, I need to show Vance that everything has been dealt with and I don't think I can start explaining anything else to SecNav. Do you understand?"

Bishop nodded her agreement. "Right" said Gibbs, "you need sleep, up you go," and then turning to the boys, "you two are on wash up duty too I'm afraid."

Just as DiNozzo started to whine and protest, Gibbs added "well it's either that or you write the damned report for Vance explaining what happened." Before he had even finished the sentence Tim and Tony were in the kitchen squabbling over who was going to wash or dry, anything was better than writing that damned report.


End file.
